1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to compositions of matter and methods for treatment of breast cancer, specifically inflammatory breast cancer.
2. Description of the Related Art
Inflammatory breast cancer (IBC) is one of the most aggressive forms of disease that presents with a unique pathobiology in which hyperproliferative clusters, or tumor emboli, are formed (Robertson et al., 2010). IBC is a distinct subtype of advanced breast cancer which disproportionately affects younger women of childbearing age (Robertson et al. 2010). A critical clinical challenge is that there are very few therapeutic options for IBC patients with metastatic recurrence (Robertson et al. 2010). Due to its high metastatic potential and frequent occurrence of therapeutic resistance, the prognosis remains poor with a 3-year survival of ˜40% despite progress in multimodality treatment (Masuda et al., 2014). Following trimodal therapy including neoadjuvant chemotherapy (CT), surgery, and post-operative radiation, patients with IBC are more likely to have residual disease and have a significantly higher risk of recurrence (Rueth et al., 2014; Saigal et al., 2013). Both residual disease and recurrence following what appears to have been clearance of the tumor are a direct result of resistant cells that are able to survive these anticancer therapies. One of the hallmarks of this disease is engorgement of the dermal lymphatics on the chest wall. Morbidities associated with local recurrence include: pain, ulceration, odor, bleeding, lymphedema and the psychological distress of having visible local disease. These changes in the chest wall are due to the presence of clusters of tumor cells that invade skin lymphatics and lymph nodes. It is postulated that the tumor emboli or tumor emboli drive metastasis in this aggressive cancer type (Nguyen et al. 2006; Vermeulen et al. 2010).
Therapeutic resistance is a serious problem for the IBC population, and new molecular therapeutic targets need to be identified to improve treatment and increase patient survival. Further, IBC can serve as a model for studying the role of cellular oxidative stress responses in modulating the efficacy of anti-cancer therapies.